


A new place, a new home, a new love?

by Starstarc



Category: Cricket RPF
Genre: Bisexual Jos Buttler, Bullying, Cute boys, Friends to Lovers, Highschool AU, Homophobia, M/M, No surprise their, Pansexual Chris Woakes, blushing Chris Woakes, supportive friends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-01
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2019-04-16 17:26:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14169882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starstarc/pseuds/Starstarc
Summary: Jos moved to St James to escape his torment, he got his own place and enrolled in school, but as it seems their would be bullies no matter what school he went to. But this time he had friends that would look out for him, and one friend in particular with the bluest eyes Jos had ever seen that might be more than just a friend.





	A new place, a new home, a new love?

**Author's Note:**

> This is based off my Australian high school experience that still has a few years to go, stuff I found on the internet and movies that were probably wrong, so expect this school to be pretty wacked up. This hasn’t been edited so ignore the mistakes or tell me. Thanks for everything, criticism is appreciated.  
> Enjoy

As the students began to trickle through the doors and through to the lockers that lined the corridor, one new face shone upon the crowd. That face was one Jos Buttler. Jos had moved to St James’ All boys School over the holidays and had no idea how to get around the school, he had settled in well but today was the day that Jos was fearing the most, the first day new high school. Everyone has had that feeling, whether it be a new school, new sports club or hanging out with new people, everyone knows that anxiousness that eats away at you and the pressure to fit in that overwhelms you.

He walked up to the front desk and politely cleared his throat, “Oh yes how can i help you?” the receptionist asked as she put on her glasses and peered up at the new pupil.  
“Uhhh I'm the new student,” he paused for a second as she looked expectantly at him, “Jos Buttler.” he added. She rifled through her notes before finding what she was looking for, she handed him two sheets of paper, one with a timetable and a map the other with a number and a locker combination. When he looked back at the lady she had her head down and was filing reports, “Excuse me, but where could i find locker 263?” he asked hesitantly, she looked up surprised that he was still there, after a moment she answered, “Down the hall and to your left, then make a right and straight down that hall are the locker bays.” Jos just nodded and headed down the hallway following the directions she gave, but soon enough he was lost and in a whole nother side of the school.  
He saw a boy walking towards the door he had previously entered though, he carried his backpack on one arm and was definitely late to his first class, “Hey could you help me find my locker please.” Jos somewhat pleaded to this stranger, “Sure,” he smiled “I'm Joe by the way.” he offered his hand and shook with Jos.  
“Yeah I'm Jos,” he replied “Oh and I'm number 263.” They started to walk down towards the right corridors this time. “Nice I'm 266, so if you ever need anything just holler.” The boy Joe added. After a while they made it there, Jos stood in front of his locker, he saw the remains of stickers and the smeared words that had obviously tried to been rubbed out but failed. He looked at his sheet and began to put in his combination. After a few attempts and no success Jos gave in to just groaning and spinning the dial again to retry the code. He felt a tap on his shoulder, “Need some help there new boy?” queried Joe. “God, please help me i swear these are the shittiest lockers I've ever seen.” Jos stepped out of the way and let Joe stand in front of him. “What's your combination?” he said over his shoulder, “28,10, 24.” he replied. Soon he heard the audible click signaling his locker had opened. Joe moved out of the way and leaned on the side of the blue lockers. Jos hauled his bag filled with his textbooks into his locker and began arranging them to fit neatly, “So,” began Joe “What class do you have first?” Jos pulled out his chemistry books and reached further in to reach his music folder, he slammed shut his locker and looked to meet Joes eyes, “Chemistry with Mr Johnson and Music with Miss Perry.” He answered. “Oh nice we have music together and you have chem with one of my best mates.” Joe said, then they headed down the halls towards the science labs where Joe had said he would drop him off before he made his way to his maths class. 

Hesitantly Jos knocked on the door and pushed it open to reveal a class full of kids, all eyes stopped and moved to him. The teacher looked over at the noise, he had a tough vibe about him and tattoos covered his arms, he gestured for him to take a seat on a desk with one other boy on it while speaking, “As you could probably tell class we have a student, i expect you all to treat him well and make him welcome here. Now as i was saying….” Mr Johnson continued on with the lesson, he was glancing out the windows and noticed the boy next to him, Jos had to admit he was good looking, like hella good looking. He had the cutest face he had ever seen with a rosy pink blush covering his cheeks, his hair framed his face and outlined his beautiful features, but what stood out most to Jos was his eyes, they had the look of an ocean in them or a cloudy sky but nonetheless they were beautiful. Soon enough he was bored again, he pulled out his notebook and began to doodle. Soon notes and lyrics began to fill the page, he could imagine riffs and chords in his head. He had lyrics flowing out if him and then when he looked up at the time he realised he had spent almost the whole period writing a song. Then a shrill loud bell rang through and everyone packed up and made their way to the door. Jos put his books back and stood next to his deskmate, “Hey do you know how to get to the music department from here?” Jos asked the boy next to him. “Have you got Miss Perry?” the boy responded, Jos replied with a nod of his head. The boy made his way into the corridor and grabbed Jos’ hand after saying a small “Me too.” He weaved his way through the crowd and tugged Jos through the bustling bodies that scrambled to get to class in time. As they appeared in front of the classroom door Jos spotted Joe not far away, but not before Joe spotted them first. “Well Chris you've already chatted up the new boy huh.” Joe remarked as he subtly pointed to the pair of them still holding hands after the long run from the labs here. Quickly they dropped hands and suddenly Chris was a shade of pink he didn't think could appear on a human. “N-no what, i didn't do anything Joe.” Chris squeaked out in a high pitched voice. Joe laughed and turned to Jos once more “I see you've already met one of my best mates, This here is Chris Woakes, one of the finest bowlers this school has seen.” Joe finished and started to make his way into the classroom. They were a bit early but still Joe lead them to a pair of boys awaiting them in the back corner of the small room. Joe started of introducing them, “This giraffe over here is Finny,” he gestured to the tall brunette who was almost spilling out of the tiny seats the school provided. “another one of our resident bowlers. “And on this side we have James,” now he pointed to the smaller man with the winning smile, “ or as he more commonly known, Titch.” soon enough Joe was rubbing the back of his head and James stood nearby grinning with his hand still raised. “He may look small, mind you he is,” He added the last bit in a whisper which was again followed by another whack across the head. “but you should see him with a bat.”

By now the classroom was almost full and at the front sat Miss Perry, she was a nice teacher who had a deep passion for music like most of the people taking the class did.. As the bell rang she stood up to address the class. “Good Morning class, welcome to our first lesson. Today i thought we could maybe have a couple of volunteers to do some performances for us, so any volunteers?” she waited as nobody raised a hand. “Ok then well how about you.” she pointed to Jos as she spoke “I don't believe i have seen you round.” Jos shook his head “I'm new here, todays my first day.” Jos spoke. She looked at him and studied him. “Well why don't you come up here and perform for us.” she said, the way she looked at him as if she expected him to perform in front of complete strangers, it almost made him feel obligated to comply, slowly he stood and made his way to the front of the class, he felt the 23 other pairs of eyes following him as he made his way to the guitar stand. He looked over the guitars, he saw beautiful wood carved with intricate designs and made with care. He picked up the 3rd last one and sat on the stool at the front of the class. Slowly his hands began to play notes and chords, they flowed from his hands and filled the room with beautiful sounds. Then his voice picked up and the lyrics he had memorized so long ago rose to the forefront of his mind. He didn't need to think he just lost himself in the music and let it envelop him.

 

From the back corner sat Chris, he was focused on Jos’ deep melodic voice, it soothed him and he couldn't find it within himself to look away. As the last note rang out and his voice slowed to a hush, everyone remained silent until Joe loudly started clapping and everyone joined in. He watched his strong arms out away the guitar and walk back up to his seat next to him.

As Jos made his way through the row suddenly a foot blocked his pathway, he stumbled but caught his balance. He turned to face the offender, it was a tall sharp nosed boy, he had dark hair and even darker eyes, he was accompanied by 3 others, a tall strong blond, a boy with a jawline that could cut you and a skinny boy who seemed like he would be the clown of the group. “Gay.” the leader remarked, they all snickered all except the blond, he looked at him and when the others weren't watching mouthed a small sorry. “Don't listen to them, you were amazing.” Praised Chris, Jos ducked his head and waved off the compliment. “They always do that to us, they think music is gay and won't stop complaining about the course.” Chris whispered into his ear, he didn't turn around but whispered back a reply, “Then why do they take the subject?” Chris shook his head. “It’s the easiest cause to pass and requires the least amount of work, but this year with Mr Pietersen gone the workloads supposed to be way more.”

“Wow, that was amazing, it's nice to see new people giving it a go.” Spoke Miss Perry, “Now we have time for few more performers.” The stage was filled with new sounds every couple of minutes and before long the bell rang. Before the group of them could exit, the sharp nosed boy shoved Jos in the back and laughed as he passed, he picked himself up and brushed himself off. “What’s his name anyway?” Jos said as he picked up his books and exited the classroom, “The head honcho is James Anderson or Jimmy, the really built one with the fluffy hair is Alastair Cook, the smaller one is Graeme Swann but everyone calls him Swanny.” explained James. He watched them walk down the hall laughing at something swanny had said. “What about the blond one?” he said, this time Finny spoke “Oh he's Stuart Broad, he only hangs out with them because he didn't really get a choice, Jimmy kinds forced him to join them when he played his 1st match and took 4 for 35.” he finished. “Finny here has a bit of a crush on young Stuart there.” exclaimed Joe. Finny frantically covered Joe's mouth and looked to see if anyone was watching. “Would you shut up Joe!” he directed at Joe “You don't mind if I'm gay do you?” this time he directed it at Jos. “ Well it's none of my business, and it would be a bit hypocritical if i did.” Jos looked up at the group, everyone was a bit stunned but Finny had a look of hope on his face. “You're gay?” he asked kinda unsure but confident, “Well I'm not gay,” he began, Finny frowned and everyone looked confused. “I'm bi.” he finished. “Ohhhh” everyone seemed to say.”Well Stuart seems pretty nice, you should invite him to hang out with us one day.” Finny looked at him like he had grown to heads, “Are you crazy I couldn’t go up to the Stuart Broad, one of the most popular boys in school, and ask him to hang out with us, the music geeks!” He exclaimed, Jos just looked at him blank faced, “Yes.” “No.” “Fine if you won't i will. “ and with that he started off down the hall and towards the group at the lockers, as he came into their sight they all looked at him whispering “Gay” to each other , “What do you want new boy?” spoke Jimmy, Jos completely ignored him and instead turned to Broad. “Hey, could I talk to you for just a sec?” he asked, Jimmy was obviously pissed off by this and pushed Jos by the shoulders to gain his attention, “Oi, I was talking to you new boy.” He crossed his arms and puffed up his chest trying to look intimidating, by now a couple of people had heard the commotion and where watching on in curiosity. “Yes, but I wasn’t talking to you now was I.” He turned to Stuart and gestured to the empty end of the hall. “I’ll only be a minute.” Stuart mumbled, Jimmy couldn’t believe what was happening, he huffed and turned back to talk to Alastair and Swanny leaving Stuart to talk to Jos alone. 

As they reached a secluded part of the hall Stuart began to speak up, “So what did you wanna talk to me about?” Jos faced him before answering him, “Well I heard you were kinda forced to hang out with those guys and it seems like you really enjoy music, from what I can tell from the lesson,” he paused and thought out his words carefully, “so I was wondering if you would wanna come hang out with us maybe, cause honestly they don’t look like they would be the best people to hang out with and they seem to hate music which can’t be fun for someone who loves it.” He finished and awaited an answer. “You’re right,” Stuart let out with a sigh of relief “I would love, they are nothing like me and I can’t stand them but no ever offers to hangout so thank you.” He had a small smile on his face and it looked like he had had a weight lifted off his shoulders, “It’s no problem.” Jos replied with a smile. “Could I possibly hangout with you at lunch then?” He asked hopefully, “Of course, I’m pretty sure our lockers are close so just come find me.” With that Stuart thanked him once more and they headed back to their respected groups to head off to class. 

When he returned they all stood their mouths open and gawking at him. “Did you really just do that?” James asked, but before he could answer Finny cut in, “What did he say?” He asked with an air of urgency, Jos laughed before replying, “he said he would meet us at lunch and he would love to hang out with us.” Finny was obviously relieved and excited for lunch to come quickly. “We better get to our classes.” Remarked Chris, “What have you got Jos?” He asked, “Gym. What about you?” By now the rest had dispersed and said their goodbyes as they went their own ways to make their way around the school. “Same as you so why don’t put his away and get over their.” They headed to their lockers and grabbed their change of clothes and headed to the gymnasium to get changed. 

The locker room was filled with boys getting changed and heading out to start the next period, they got 2 lockers next to each other in the far corner. As Chris stripped of his shirt, Jos couldn’t help but stare at the toned muscles that covered his stomach, when he turned so his back was to Jos he couldn’t help but admire the way the muscles rippled as he slipped the shirt over his head. By now Jos realised what he was doing and quickly unbuttoned his own shirt off and through it into the locker, he donned his brand new black and red shirt and slipped his matching shorts on. 

They headed to the gym, as it was the start of the year they decided to play a couple games of soccer on the courts to warm up, they couldn’t play cricket because it was winter but most wanted to do some practice before the season started. They picked teams, Chris and Jos ended up on opposite teams, Jos took the goalie position, being a wicket keeper gave him the best shot at stopping the goals compared to the rest of them. Chris was given striker because he had played as a child and found himself to be an attacker rather than defender. As the game started it was often being stolen by each team and being sent back and forth till it passed their defenders and got straight through to Chris, he quickly fired it to the bottom left, Jos dived from the other side to catch it mid air, most just stared as they had never seen him play but they quickly forgot about that as he sent it flying down to his side, most of the game passed like this with a few balls getting pass, by halftime scores were level on 3 all, they decided to switch some positions around this ended up with Jos playing midfield and Chris was the other defender, the rest of the game was mainly them trying to pull off cool tricks and tackling the other, they ended up out of breath and laughing on the ground. The coach blew the whistle and everyone cleared out of the gym, they remained there just resting and enjoying the company. Chris sat up and looked at Jos with a smile that reached his eyes, he stood up and put out his hand, Jos had the sudden urge to pull him down and kiss him, but he refrained from that, he just grasped his hand and pulled himself up,he felt a tingle run up his arm like when they ran to music. Unfortunately he overestimated Chris’ pull and was sent flying into him, he was pushed into his chest and felt his arms wrap around him to keep him from falling, he laughed at the situation. He inhaled and found that Chris smelled like rain and pine trees, it smelt like winter, it was comfortable and reminded him of his old home. He pulled away and smiled up at Chris, “We should probably get to class.” mumbled Chris, he rubbed the back of his neck. Jos nodded in agreement and pulled Chris along back to the lockers.

By now everyone had gone so it left them both alone. “Hey Chris?” he removed his shirt and grabbed his towel, Chris turned and instantly started blushing, he couldn't avert his eyes from his defined chest, Jos coughed and brought Chris’ gaze back up to eyes, after of course they slowly travelled up his chest to his blue eyes. “Uhh ye-yeah.” he blushed even more and kept stuttering. Jos just smirked “Where are the showers?” Chris nodded, Chris grabbed his stuff and headed down towards the showers, “This way.” they made there way to the cubicles and entered the two closest to the door. 

The water was warm and washed away the sweat that had built up over the course of the game. Jos scrubbed his back and arms and let the water wash over him, he began to hum the words to a song he had learnt not long ago, it was from the movie Cinderella, he had watched it for English the previous year and that lullaby had been stuck in his head all day. He hummed the first few lines, imagining the words in his mind, he froze when he heard another voice join in, he relaxed when he realised it was Chris humming the melody, they kept on humming through the chorus and into the last verse, at the end he shut off his water and dried off, he heard Chris turning off his shower shortly after, by the time he was back at the locker and tying up his shoes, Chris had emerged dressed and ready to head to lunch.

They made their way to the lockers to put away the dirty clothes, they saw the rest of them standing at Joe’s locker, after they had gotten out their lunches they headed over to the group, “You guys are a bit late aren’t ya?” Stated Joe “We were the last one out.” Answered Jos, but it didn’t seem to satisfy Joe’s curiosity. Jos felt a tap on his shoulder, he turned to see Stuart standing behind him, “Hey.” Stuart said somewhat nervously,”Hey Stuart, this is Chris, Joe, James and last but not least Finny.” As he said that he gave Finny a nudge and a wink. Finny responded with a elbow in the ribs and an innocent smile. Joe was the first to speak, “So how about we go hang out in the music rooms, I’m pretty sure there empty today.” Everyone nodded in agreement and started the trek to the rooms. As they went friendly chatter arose talking about the upcoming season and the new facilities being built on the new oval. They reached the room and everyone took various seats around the room, some on piano stools and others on desks. “Hey so I never found out what instruments you guys played.” Exclaimed Jos, he had seen a few people in the class play, but none of them had. “Piano” said Chris, Next was Joe with a shout of “Ukulele!”, then James responded in a equally loud voice with “Electric!” Finny practically yelled out “Guitar!” And Stuart laughed at their antics before replying with a soft “I play the Piano.” He nodded in thought and continued to chew on his sandwich, everyone was silent. 

“If you don't mind me asking, but why did you move here?” it was Stuart, he had expected the question to come soon, but he didn't expect it on his first day. After a few seconds of silence from Jos, Stuart spoke again, “If you don't want to tell us that's fine.” Jos shook his head, “No it's, it's just that people always feel sorry for me when they find out and i don't want you to think differently of me when you find out.” he mumbled the words just barely above a whisper but everyone heard, he hung his head and stared at the floor. “Hey,” Chris placed his hand on his shoulder, “Don't worry, we won't judge you.” Jos inhaled and started to tell them just why he had moved to come to this very school. “At my last school i was bullied a lot, it hot really bad and i told my parents, they didn't think it was that bad, but i really couldn't stand it anymore so i begged them to let me move. They got me an apartment up here and enrolled me.” he looked up at the group to see them almost shocked that someone would bully one of the nicest boys they knew. They were shocked that Jos was still so happy when stuff like that had happened. After a few moments of silence someone finally spoke. “So does that mean you have a place to yourself? Like no parents, friends over whenever you want, free house 24/7?” to no surprise it was Joe. After a nod from Jos Joe let put a very loud “Woooohooooo!” from this Jos expected that the rest of them would be at his place quite a lot after this. Secretly he wished that it would be Chris there with him more than the others. They continued to chat for a while and laughed along.

By the end Stuart had relaxed and earned himself the nickname of ‘Broady’ (by Finny of course). As the bell rang he thanked them and they organised to meet up after school to exchange numbers and organise to hang out sometime, most likely at Jos’ place.

Chris collected his books and shouted a goodbye, he made his way down the hall to his maths class, this was one of the few classes he had without a friend. He had already begun to miss Jos when he had only met him that day.


End file.
